What Does It Mean To Be A Professional?

Posted: January 5, 2015

Just before the Christmas break, Nexplica posted a great article about what it means to be a professional. At the very least, it gets you thinking about the word and how we use it. And at most, it serves as a checklist for how we should act in our daily work lives. Read on:

Many, many people refer to themselves as professionals. You can’t blame them. After all, who wouldn’t want to be a professional? It’s a really strong word, with only positive connotations. But it’s also kind of vague. What is a professional? Is it someone who’s really good at their job, like a professional stuntman? It someone who just does something for a living versus recreationally, like a professional hockey player? Is it someone who takes their job really seriously? Is it all of these things? More?

Some good examples of what being a “professional” is.

Professionals return your calls and reply to your emails promptly.

Professionals follow through when they say they’re going to do something.

Professionals are on time for meetings, calls and everything.

Professionals are polite and pleasant to talk with.

Professionals don’t BS you because they know BS is a total waste of time.

Professionals know their stuff inside out and back again.

Professionals know that if they don’t know, they should just be honest and tell you so.

Professionals listen with an open mind so that they can better understand.